1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus for using a recording head to record data on a recording medium.
2. Related Background Art
At present, as for printing apparatuses (recording apparatuses) which eject ink and print data on recording media, such as sheets or OHPs, apparatuses comprising a DC motor and a control encoder, for recording unit movement and recording medium feeding (conveying), have attained mainstream prominence, because they are capable of delicately controlling the ejection of ink.
As part of the printing processing performed by a conventional recording apparatus, first, a recording medium feeding motor (a line feed motor) is activated to convey a recording medium to the front of a recording unit, where it is halted. Then, the ejection of ink is conducted for printing, while a recording unit movement motor (a carriage driving motor) is activated to move the recording unit to the right or left, after which it is halted. Then, the recording medium feeding motor is again activated to convey the recording medium and it is halted. This processing sequence is repetitively performed until the printing process is terminated.
The following is an example of a method for halting a DC motor. A roller has rotated until a recording medium reaches a target position, whereupon the DC motor is powered off and is halted by its inertia. However, the location whereat the motor is actually halted tends to shift because of various factors, for example, cogging of the DC motor or vibration caused by another operation (such as the movement of a carriage).
As is described above, ideally, a recording medium is halted during the operation of a recording unit; in actuality, however, following the feeding process, inertia, mechanical vibration or the like may cause the recording medium to move even during printing, (slippage occurs) thereby deteriorating a printed image. According to a conventional control method for preventing recording medium slippage during the operation of the recording unit, the printing speed is merely reduced, or the recording operation is temporarily halted to return the recording medium to the correct halted position.
Fast printing is required of current mainstream printers, and a reduction in printing speed, or the temporary halting of a printing operation, to correct for slippage, leads to a disadvantage for a product.
It is, therefore, one objective of the present invention to provide a technique whereby, even when the location of a recording medium is shifted during printing, a reduction in recording speed (throughput) or the degradation of image quality can be prevented, and high-quality printing (recording) can be preformed.